Sirius had worked his way through most of the books in the library, picking out every single one that involved time travel and setting a lock on it that no one could open unless they had his permission. He wasn't entirely sure if he was allowed to do something like that, but as long as he was the heir of the family, he had mostly free reign to do whatever he pleased. And he would remain heir as long as he was stronger than Regulus.

"Sirius Black!" Walburga's voice sounded like it had been amplified to reach the library that loudly. "Get down here now! Your cousins are visiting."

Sirius groaned, setting down a non-time travel but still sketchy book that shouldn't ever see the light of day again. "How are they already visiting again?" he muttered, picking his way out of the mess of books. "I can't believe they have nothing better to do. It's been all of two days."

Not wanting his mother to yell more however, he made his way down the stairs, taking the opportunity to stretch and breath in the fresh air. That library really doesn't have any redeeming qualities, Sirius thought.

"There you are," Walburga said, when he slipped into the drawing room that was back to its usual state. Sirius couldn't comprehend what went through his mother's head, because that drawing room had remained clean for all of thirty seconds before Bellatrix walked in. "Get in front of your brother, and tuck your shirt in."

Grumbling slightly, Sirius did as he was told, staring a little too long at Regulus for it to be considered normal. He still wasn't sure whether he was glad that his brother had seen the error of his ways, or annoyed that his brother had died immediately after doing so.

"What do you want?" Regulus hissed, narrowing his eyes at Sirius.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "It's been a while since we've even spoken civilly, Reggie, I don't want anything from you."

Beyond your promise that you will take care of yourself. Not that Sirius would tell his brother that.

Regulus bristled at the familiar nickname, but before he could speak, the Floo flared up and Bellatrix stepped out, looking far too gleeful for it to be normal.

"Auntie Walburga!" She exclaimed loudly, waving her hand over her head. "Uncle Orion, you're here too! That's great!"

Sirius turned his head to look, and indeed, his father was standing behind him, looking tired and irritated. He hadn't been in the house much since the winter vacations had started, and Sirius was starting to wonder where he kept disappearing off too.

"Hello, Bellatrix," his father said, nodding slightly at his oldest niece. "How have you been doing?"

"I'm doing great uncle! But someone isn't," she said, whipping her wand out and waving it around slightly. Sirius moved away from her, not wanting to get hit by a stray spark, and he could see Regulus do the same, wincing at his side.

"Is that so?" Somehow, his father managed to sound completely bored and uninterested in Bellatrix's dramatics. Sirius envied that skill. "This wouldn't have something to do with that Dark Lord, would it?"

Bellatrix gasped. "However did you guess uncle?"

Orion raised an eyebrow; the same expression Sirius had seen on his face many times before. "You're never this excited nowadays unless something with that Dark Lord has happened."

Bellatrix slumped slightly, probably at the knowledge that she was still predictable. "I suppose I should just tell you then. Remember those children he had kidnapped? He got bored of them and ordered a few of the newer recruits to kill them all."

Sirius' breath caught, but he forced himself to still and not move. He couldn't afford to show them that he cared about those kids. He wasn't invested in them. Not at all. Not even with the suspicions he had about one of the kids being one of the survivors in the future. He supposed he would never find out now.

"Hmm. And are we supposed to be doing something about that, Bellatrix?" Orion asked, still looking unimpressed. "Unless you need something that will satisfy your Aunt Lucretia or Aunt Cedrella?"

Bellatrix had a sheepish expression on her face, something Sirius hadn't seen for years, since Bellatrix turned 12, actually. "If you would, Uncle."

"Why would you need something to satisfy them?" Sirius blurted, trying to remember which kids had been kidnapped. There was no other reason Bellatrix would be here otherwise. "Did you kill one of their kids?"

Bellatrix twitched, lifting her wand slightly, but didn't move beyond that. "Do you pay no attention to your surroundings, Siri?"

"One of the kidnapped children was William Weasley, the oldest son of Molly and Arthur," Regulus whispered behind him as an answer to his question.

Sirius slumped slightly as the memory of that night came to the forefront of his mind, slightly blurred from his lack of concentration, but no less clear. He remembered the bright red hair and the sharp grey eyes. He had their eyes, eyes that the Black family were known for.

"And did you kill him, Bellatrix?" Orion asked, tone sharp.

Sirius could feel horror building up in the back of his throat, as he was abruptly reminded of why his father would be so sharp. Lucretia was his father's older sister, and William was… had been his nephew, of sorts. William wasn't even a distant relative; he was still the main line of their family.

"No," Bellatrix said, lifting her chin up sharply. It didn't make her any taller, in fact, she was still shorter than Sirius, but it made her look more stubborn that normal. "But I'm a part of this group, and Aunt Cedrella likes to blame everyone."

Sirius remembered Aunt Cedrella's favorite quote, 'The actions upon one person by a group, is the fault of the group, regardless of which person in the group committed the crime.'

"You had better talk to father about it," Orion said finally, voice losing its sharpness. "It would be better for you if you had an alibi though."

Bellatrix looked around the room, with a slightly unhinged look on her face – eyes wide and lips stretched into a gruesome grimace. When no one offered her any support, she turned back to Orion.

"I'll take Siri with me, as a witness, I guess."

Sirius took a step back, but Regulus' hand stopped him from moving any further away from their cousin. "You traitor," he hissed at his brother. "Let me move!"

"Think of this as payback for the Gryffindor incident," Regulus shot back, viciously.

Sirius cursed. He regretted that one decision to go into Gryffindor if he was going to die like this – dragged into a dispute by a cousin he disliked, killed torturously by an aunt he had met all of once before, or straight up tortured by his favorite aunt in the whole family. Why couldn't his life be better?

Orion glanced at him, then shrugged. "If he is fine wasting his last few days before his presentation, then sure."

Sirius stumbled forward when Regulus shoved him, and grimaced. He had forgotten about that presentation, what with everything that had happened since. Thank Merlin he had the forethought to complete his modifications before he left Hogwarts for the vacations. It would have been a disaster otherwise. Although, come to think of it, he had to talk to grandfather about the presentation anyways, explaining the spell he had picked and what he had done to make it better.

"Sure," he muttered, glaring at Regulus and Bellatrix for good measure. "I'll go with you to grandfather's house."

The Black Mansion, where Arcturus lived with a bunch of other family members Sirius hadn't seen all that much, was a sprawling estate with its very own lake, forest and racecourse. The only reason they didn't have a quidditch pitch was because Grandmother Melania hated it when people tracked mud into the house, and Arcturus had just banned quidditch to make the elves' lives easier.

"I hate coming here," Bellatrix muttered, twirling her wand around.

Sirius grunted, trying to stop himself from throwing up all over Grandfather Arcturus' pretty garden with deadly plants. His grandfather's paranoia hadn't decreased even slightly, if the way the plants leaned towards them was any indication. Sirius took another step away from them.

"Why couldn't you have apparated us to grandmother's entrance instead?" He grumbled to Bellatrix, cursing the fact that his cousin was the most violent witch Sirius had ever had the pleasure of being side-apparated with.

"Grandmother banned me from her side of the house," Bellatrix said, pouting and twirling a lock of her hair around her wand. "I didn't even do anything wrong."

"Figures that this is your fault," he muttered, kicking off the mud on the step outside the door and then, stomped his way into the house. "I can't believe you're trying to save yourself from the consequences of your own actions."

"Hey," Bellatrix protested, eyes narrowing at him. "What do you mean by that?"

Sirius waved her off, leaning against the wall outside Arcturus' study. They would no doubt have to wait for the portraits lining the wall to take news of their arrival to him, before they could walk in. Sirius didn't care much for that tradition, since his grandfather refused to believe they weren't Polyjuiced imposters until he had hexed them at least twice. And he only hexed people when they entered his office.

"A young Black," Hesper Black's portrait said, peering at him from her seat behind a desk.

"Don't you have school child?" Licorus asked, looking much too curious.

Sirius refused to stick his tongue out at them. "I'm here to talk to grandfather Arcturus."

"Ah, yes. Arcturus. He's a little busy now," Sirius' namesake said, absentmindedly. "You might want to come back later."

Sirius wanted to rip all the annoying paintings off the wall. Instead, he asked, "Where is he?"

"In his office, dear," Phoebe's high, sweet voice called. "You shouldn't be – "

Sirius ignored them and walked to his grandfather's office, not meandering and roaming around the manor like he usually enjoyed doing with Regulus. They hadn't explored the manor in years though, not since the year he turned 9.

At his grandfather's office door, he knocked and opened the door, palming his wand. He expected an attack from his paranoid family patriarch.

Indeed, as soon as he entered the room, he got no less than seven spells thrown in his general direction. Cursing and ducking most of them, he threw up a shield that all Blacks learnt when they were young. A basic defense, but damn, his grandfather was getting more senile if he was sending that stupid specialty spell at him.

"Peace, grandfather!" He yelled, ducking under the desk, to avoid the barrage of spells. "I just want to talk!"

The spells reduced, but Sirius knew his grandfather was still being a paranoid old man. How he hadn't been replaced by father yet was a question everyone had asked at least once before.

"Come out then, child," Arcturus' deep voice almost growled.

Sirius prayed to whatever god existed that he wouldn't be blasted to hell if he stood up. Nonetheless, he did stand up. And Arcturus' wand slowly lowered.

"Sirius." There was extreme wariness in his tone, as though he didn't want Sirius there. Which Sirius already knew because Sirius wasn't a complete idiot. "What are you doing here?"

"Bellatrix wanted to talk to you about something, and wanted me as a witness," he said dryly. The thought of Bellatrix ever using him as a witness was funny, and before this incident, the chances were near zero. It was just his luck that he was the only Gryffindor in the family, and hence the only person Aunt Cedrella would believe if he acted as witness.

"Very well," Arcturus said, sitting down on his seat and waving his hand. "Get your cousin in then and tell her to stop lurking."

Sirius stuck his head outside the door, calling Bellatrix in, before retreating to a corner of the room and sitting down. This was going to be a long meeting. He just knew it.